In a statement sent to the Weekly and other outlets, California Labor Federation executive secretary-treasurer Art Pulaski called the move "a setback" for the Kochs, who have expressed some desire to purchase the Times and the Times only.

Perhaps that's because any suitors now must consider a coast-to-coast package that includes the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun Sentinel and more.

In its coverage of the deal, the Times says " ... the papers still could be sold at any time and the idea of the spinoff abandoned."

Still, any push back for the notion of a Koch takeover, the worst Westside white people problem since the 1992 riots, is seen as a victory. Pulaski:

Today's announcement that the Tribune Company is committed to the profitability of its newspaper holdings, including the Los Angeles Times, is a short-term victory for those who believe a free and fair press is vital to our democracy. The announcement is also a setback to the ideologically extreme Koch brothers, who expressed interest in buying the Tribune's newspapers.

There's no doubt the Kochs' interest in the Times and other papers is driven by their desire to fuel an anti-worker agenda through compromising the integrity of some of America's finest journalistic institutions.

The Times spins the move as a way to get rid of some dead-tree media:

The goal is to boost the stock-market value of the broadcast properties by unshackling them from the newspapers, whose revenue has been declining sharply.

But, as we said, the Times seems to do just fine without being saddled with "multi-platform" dreams and billions in red ink.